Wendy: With thick, dead straight hair a 'perm' was the last thing I'd ever considered but then came the Afro craze. When I arrived home looking like Jimi Hendrix's pale sister, my 4 year old son (now 38!) took one look and said "Mummy, don't be silly - go and put your real hair back on!" For the first time in my life I had to cope with dry hair and within two weeks my fast growing locks had ballooned and I looked like a total freak. Needless to say it was the first and last 'perm'.

Muriel: I used to long for my dead straight hair to be curly when I was younger so had several perms. A couple of times I woke up the next day to find that one side had gone straight again. Not really a good look!

Pixie: OMG I had the worst perm in the world when I was in Year 10 in 1983!! Having very fine blonde hair I looked like a mushroom, and the only time it looked anything like I thought it would was when it was dripping wet!! Never, ever again!!

Leigh: I had the Nicole Kidman perm from BMX bandits, except it was a decade later! My folks thought it was very pretty but I now think they were being very wise parents of a teenage girl. I didn't get a proper boyfriend until I went to uni, let the perm grow out and cut it short. Well played mum and dad, well played.

Cathi: Yes, I caught the train to perth having really straight hair I was about 16 came home and walked up the stairs and my Mum said oh my god what the hell happened, it was so frizzy, they put in the school year book that I had a hair raising experience that year. My Nana permed my hair for the first day of grade 1 that would have been mid late mid sixties, but it was far more gentle, the photos are funny though.

Ian:I shared with a girl who used to get a perm every now and again. Without fail, there would be a plaintive whine the next morning asking me to phone her work and tell them she was sick. Because it looked completely crap and she spent the whole next day trying to de-frizz it. Unbelievable.

Heather: When I had my first perm in 1965 my mother-in-law took one look at the frizz and said 'I told you you can't gild the lily!'

Tricia: My first perm was a really good wash and wear style that looked quite nice. The second one was really frizzy and done by an apprentice who had to have every roller checked. My husband (then my boyfriend) was horrified. Had a few more gentle ones over the next 20 years until my hair decided to develop a nice gentle wave all of its own. No need for perms any more but still need regular colour treatments.

The Crossover with Gillian O'Shaughnessy and Russell Woolf is heard weekdays at 3.05pm on 720 ABC Perth.